Share via

Is it possible to restrict cut, copy, paste and print for a stand-alone SharePoint list without documents or attachments?

Question

Thursday, November 22, 2012 11:52 PM

Hi,

There is a requirement in my organization to create a "subject matter experts" Sharepoint List. This list will only contain list items and we need to disable the following functions on the list views and list item views:

1. Printing
2. Cut
3.Copy
4. Paste
5. Export to Excel or anywhere else

From what I have researched, the Information Rights Management is integrated with SharePoint but it only helps to restrict the above functions for files or physical docments in the document library and not on the list or list items itself.

Is there another way to do this?

Any Ideas to approach this would be very much appreciated

Many Thanks - Reema 

All replies (2)

Friday, November 23, 2012 4:21 AM âś…Answered | 1 vote

Reema,

There is nothing out there that can achieve all of your items regarding list items and or list views. So the short answer is no - there really isn't a fail safe way to do what you have been requested to achieve.

Numbers 5 is easy to achieve:

  • Create a custom permissions level based on the Read permission and elect not to enable "Use Client Integration Features in this permissions level
  • I would create a new SharePoint Group for all users who require read access
  • I would break permissions inheritance on the list 
  • Grant the new permissions group to the list with the new permissions level. This will make sure these users can't export to Excel.

Now, numbers 1-4 are your issues. The content rendered in a list or a list view are plain text within the context of a browser. As such, you can Print, Copy and Paste along with a long host of possibilities. It will not be possible to 'secure' this content in all cases. I would suggest that you only grant read type permissions to those who are allowed to see the content.

If you must have sensitive type data with these restrictions I would:

  • Configure AD RMS
  • Manage the content in an Excel Spreadsheet
  • Store the Excel Spreadsheet within a document library that is AD RMS enabled with Information Rights Management

Overall, even if you disable Printing, Copy and Paste on documents within this library, someone can still take a screenshot, take a picture with a camera or simply type out the content to reproduce it. If someone can read the content, there is no way to ensure the data is not reproducible/printable (again screenshot, a picture, re-typing). The best way to secure this content would be not to share it at all (with those who you need to place restrictions 1-4) if it is that sensitive.

It sounds like you are in a difficult scenario with these requirements. I would speak with those requesting these features and discuss specifically what you can do and what you can't do. Present all the options you can along with limitations. Make the business decide what they are comfortable with and then proceed according to their wishes after they are completely informed.

Good luck and I hope this helps,

Craig

Senior Systems Engineer / SharePoint Architect
Bermuda SharePoint Users Group Leader | My Blog | Twitter: @craiglussier @bermudaspug

Friday, November 23, 2012 5:45 PM

Hi Craig,

Thanks so much for the insight and for letting me know.

I am having a meeting with them in the coming week on Thursday, so will explain the can do's and can't do's to them and see what they decide.

Hopefully it goes well and comes down to a much simpler solution like implementing RMS in our AD

I shall keep you posted on the outcome.

Thanks much Craig - Reema